


Blindsided

by apathetic_asian



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Everything is destiel and nothing hurts, M/M, SO MUCH FLUFF, Shipper!Sam, Shmoop, hospital au, it really hurts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-20
Updated: 2014-08-20
Packaged: 2018-02-13 22:45:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2168016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apathetic_asian/pseuds/apathetic_asian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean wakes up in a hospital after a car accident. The first thing he hears? "Please Gabriel, stop sending male prostitutes to my room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blindsided

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Leah and Arpita for prompting me and walking me through this. They actually prompted me right before AP and SAT week, which was in May... and now it's August, so I'm so fucking sorry guys. I'm working in the Pacific Rim AU (if anyone's keeping up with that) and hopefully, I'll be able to get back into the groove and bust out a chapter. Enjoy!

            He wakes up to the sound of beeps and the smell of antiseptics. For a second, he's extremely disoriented and, well there's no other word for it, he flails. The painful wrenching of the IV in his arm finally brings him into full consciousness, and that's when he remembers what happened: the bright flashing of someone's headlights, and the jarring impact of the truck's grill into his Baby's side. Fuck, what happened to his girl? He looks around, but the curtain is still pulled up around his hospital bed, and all he can make out is the stripes on the curtains, nothing else. He moves around a little, careful of the various needles in his body. There is a little bit of pain, but it's mostly dampened by the concoction of whatever drugs are in his system. He notices the red panic button next to his head and hits it.

            A few minutes later, two nurses come rushing into his room. It takes a while for them to explain what happened to him, and where he is. A broken leg, bruised ribs, and a few other scrapes and bruises. All in all, he was pretty lucky. Well, that's a word Dean never thought he'd use to describe himself. The nurses tell him that Sam had gone home for the day, after spending nearly the entire day at his bedside, and ask if he wants them to call him. Dean thinks about it, but honestly, Sam could use the sleep, and there really wasn't any need.

            As the nurses leave, he becomes aware that he isn't the only person in this room. He hears an exasperated voice pleading on the phone, "Please Gabriel, stop sending male prostitutes into my room **.** "

            Dean can't help but crack a smile at that.

            There's a pause before his roommate speaks again. "No Gabriel, I am not physically well enough to engage in intercourse, and not to mention, it is extremely unsanitary, and would be immensely deprecating to my recovery."

            Dean begins to laugh, and that's when his roommate pulls the dividing curtain back to look at him. Dean clears his throat and tries to school his expression into less of an _I caught you talking about prostitutes_ look, and opens his mouth to apologize, but one glance at the dude's embarrassed face has him in tears again.

            "I'm---" he chokes out, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I'm Dean by the way."

            His roommate shakes his head, red spots of color remain high on his cheekbones, but he nods at Dean, "Castiel. And it's fine, it's kind of hard not to in this place."

            Dean finally manages to get himself under some semblance of control, but it took a while and now there's this awkward silence that's settled in the room. He rubs the back of his head before speaking again.

            "So... uh Castiel? That's not a name you hear every day."

            "It's biblical, Angel of Thursday. My parents were pretty religious, so all of my siblings were named after Angels."

            "That's cool. So Cas, watcha in here for? If you don't mind me asking of course."

            Castiel frowns a little at the shortening of his name, but he doesn't protest it. "Uh, I fell." He looks a bit embarrassed about it, but continues. "I was trying to get this cat out of a tree, but the ladder tipped while I was up there, and I wound up in the hospital. "

            Dean raised an eyebrow, "Wow, that's really," he paused, looking for a right word. "...heroic of you?"

            Cas snorts, "That's a nice way of putting it, though heroic is not the word I would use. Foolish perhaps."

            "So why'd they call you to climb the tree?"

            "I'm a firefighter, it's in the job description. Putting out flames and saving cats it seems like. I'm on the squad for nearly seven years, surviving every major fire and rescue operation, but I end up in the hospital because I try to save a cat."

            Dean laughs, "So how is the cat?"

            Cas shrugs, "They told me that it came down by itself, cool as anything, after I was loaded into the ambulance, the ungrateful little cretin."

            And that's when Dean decides that there might actually be a bright side to getting hit by a car after all.

***

            Staying in the hospital.... is really boring, but with Cas as a roommate, it was a lot better. Dean hadn't realized how tedious daytime television was until now. After a few episodes, Dr. Phil got really annoying. He couldn't believe how stupid some people were. At least Cas agreed. He hadn't noticed just how snarky the other man could be. Watching TV with Cas was a form of entertainment in and of itself.

            "How naive could she be?" "Who in the world is stupid enough to send some random person thousands of dollars just because he asked?" "You can't be in a relationship if you've never met the other person." "Do people like this actually exist?"

            The funny thing was how absorbed he seemed by it, taking their idiocy as almost a personal insult. He was so animated that he nearly re-broke his ribs. They weren't allowed to watch TV after that. So they decided to talk about themselves. Turns out Cas is the youngest out of six kids. His entire family consisted of lawyers and politicians, but Cas decided to rebel and become a firefigher. His parents disowned him for not joining the family business, but he still keeps in touch with his siblings, some more than others. Gabe, the brother who kept sending Castiel hookers, was the sibling he was closest with, but, Cas's words, not his, he was a bit too much sometimes. Example: attempting to hook Cas up with male prostitutes. Apparently, Cas likes bees and guinea pigs, but has never had the time to actually pursue those interests. He says he wants to open up a bee farm when he retires and adopt as many furry animals as he can. His favorite food is burgers, but he can't cook for shit, so he has to go out to eat in order to get a decent burger. Dean recommended the Roadhouse. Ellen makes a killer burger, and her pie is the bomb.

            "We should go sometime, after we get the hell out of here," he says offhandedly, before realizing that he maybe sorta asked Cas out on a date. Fortunately, Cas doesn't think it's weird, because, as he's coming to realize, the guy doesn't have really great social skills.  Cas gives a noncommittal hum, before turning the conversation on Dean. What's his story? Dean tells him that he's a mechanical engineer. He's only got one brother, Sam, who's in law school in California, but on summer break right now. He's lived in Lawrence almost all his life, only briefly moving to go to college. He was lucky enough to land a job back in his hometown and has stayed here ever since. He realizes that he hasn't really talked to anyone for an extended period of time, and it's kind of nice to have someone listen to the little details that he never really thought were that important. But Cas fixes those damned blue eyes on him, and makes it seem like every little mundane piece of Dean's life is the meaning of the universe or something. Seriously, the guy has a staring problem.

            Sam comes to visit him nearly every day. He brings pie with him along with the rabbit food that he's determined to shove down Dean's throat. ("It's healthy Dean! You're gonna give yourself a heart attack from all the junk that you eat”). At least there's pie. Sam and Cas get along pretty well. They both geek out over the same stuff (apparently Cas is a huge Doctor Who fan, who knew?), and sometimes Sam spends his entire visit just fangirling with Cas. However Cas is also a Game of Thrones fan as well, so hours are filled with both of them debating over who should win the Iron Throne. Dean is totally for Danaerys and her badass dragons, but Cas is adamant that Jon Snow should rule the Seven Kingdoms. They finally compromise and agree that they could probably co-rule.

            Dean also meets Gabriel, who turns out to be even weirder in person. The guy seems to have an endless stash of candy. Just when he finishes a lollipop, he miraculously manages to conjure up another one. Dean also figures out how Cas got to be so snarky; Gabriel manages to even out-sass Dean, and if Dean wasn't so annoyed, he would be a bit impressed. He's also, thankfully, agreed to stop sending hookers into their room.

            He learns more about Cas, up to the point that it seems like he's known the guy for years. He hasn't talked to someone for this long, barring Sammy, and it's kind of nice. He begins to notice little things: the way Cas's mouth curves up when saying anything that starts with h, the crinkles around his eyes when he smiles, the intense staring, and his complete inability to understand any pop culture references. Little things that are just so _Cas_.

***

            "Uh, so how's Cas?" Sam asks when they're out in the courtyard for a breath of air. Dean is still in a wheelchair (they've removed the cast, but told him to stay off of the leg as much as possible), but he's feeling loads better, and the doctors say that he'll be discharged soon.

            "He's good. Why?"

            "I don't know, you two seemed to be hanging around a lot."

            "What's that supposed to mean? Of course we hang out a lot, we're basically stuck together. We share a goddamned room." Dean snaps.

            "Jesus, Dean. I was making an observation. No need to freak out." Sam raises his hands in a mock defensive gesture.

            "I'm not freaking out. We're really good friends." Dean huffs.

            "Really? Just friends?" Sam asks.

            "What the hell does that mean?" Dean frowns.

            "Nothing, Dean. Never mind"

            Sam wheels him back into the room a few minutes later in silence. Cas is sitting up in bed, reading some celebrity gossip magazine. One that Dean has totally not looked at at all. He looks up when Dean and Sam come into the room and gives them a lopsided smile. He puts down the magazine and says, "I have good news. The doctor says I'll be out of the hospital in a day, maybe two."

            "That's great news Cas!" Sam exclaims, he turns to Dean, "Isn't that great Dean?"

            Dean doesn't answer. He's not stupid; he knows that once Cas leaves, they'll never see each other again. He doesn't want to lose touch with Cas. But once they're both out of the hospital, there won't be a reason to see each other again. And for some reason, that really bothers him.

            Cas is looking at him funny, "Dean?"

            "Huh?" He is startled out of his reverie. "Yeah that's.... that's great Cas."

            He turns on the TV and randomly flips through the channels, trying not to let the sudden awkward silence get to him. Sam gives him a strange look but turns to talk to Cas about the state of the goddamn economy or something and lets Dean mope in peace.

***

            Two days pass very quickly, and before he knows it, Cas is coming out of their shared bathroom in his normal clothes. He's gotten so used to seeing him in a hospital gown that it's a little strange to see him in jeans and a hoodie. Castiel spreads his arms out in a little 'how do I look' motion, and that's when Dean realizes that, along with the inappropriate boner he's developed, he's also developed some pretty strong feelings for Cas. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. He knows he looks like an idiot with his mouth opening and closing, but honestly, he's so blindsided by his recent epiphany that all he can do is gape like a fish.

            "Dean?" Cas's concerned voice startles him out of his daze.

            "Oh yeah," He clears his throat and pulls the blanket around his middle more securely, "Great, uh you look great."

            The brilliant smile that Cas gives him is enough to confirm that yes, he does have a huge gay crush on his hospital roommate, who's also about to leave and never see him again. Fuck his goddamned miserable life.

            Gabriel arrives to pick Cas up just then, and Dean is forced to break the staring contest that he and Cas were in the middle of.

            "Hey little bro! Hope I'm not interrupting anything. Let's get you out of here so we can get you laid yeah?"

            Gabriel's annoyingly chipper voice makes Dean want to hurl something at his face. However, this may be his last chance to ever see Cas again, and he can't screw it up by physically assaulting his brother. He wants to say something meaningful, maybe ask Cas to give him his number, so they can stay in contact or something, but all that comes out of his mouth is, "Thanks for making my hospital stay not suck."

***

            Fuck he's an idiot. Fuck fuck fuck fuck. He can't believe himself. He blew any chance of seeing Cas again. Goddammit. Now Cas thinks he's a weirdo, which gives him more of a reason to never want to see Dean again. He slides down his bed and buries himself in his blankets. This is the worst day ever, and it's just ten in the morning.

            The day doesn't get any better, but at least he gets to get out of this place tomorrow. The nurses move this old lady who broke her hip into Cas's bed. Her name's Delores and she's sweet, and shares the pie that her grandkids brought with Dean. That makes her instantly awesome in Dean's eyes. She gets tired easily, and spends most of her time asleep, so Dean is constantly bored. He misses Cas. How can he miss Cas? He hasn't even been gone a day. Goddammit.

            Sam comes to visit him around seven once he gets off work and brings him food. The hospital food is disgusting, so he manages to choke down the rabbit food that Sam bought. At least there's chicken in it. They eat in silence and watch the news. Once they're at a commercial break, Sam clears his throat and turns towards him. "So uh... Cas is gone."

            Dean glances at him, "Yeah, and?"

            "Cmon man," Sam says, "You can't really be that dense?"

            Dean sighs, "I don't know man, I was going to say something, and then I fucked it up."

            "Don't be too hard on yourself man, you'll figure something out." Sam shrugs.

            "I'm never gonna see the guy again, Sammy."

            "Well, you never know."

***

 

            Everything was finally in order for Dean to leave the hospital. He was tired of sitting around doing nothing, and not even all the pie in the world could make him stay. After a few more talks from the doctors telling him not to exert himself and some other shit that he didn't listen to, he was finally getting out of this place. After saying goodbye to Delores and grabbing his shit, he hobbled to the lobby with Sammy. The Impala was still in the shop, and his doctors had warned him on taking it easy, so Sammy had volunteered to drive him home.

            As they were leaving the building, Sam stopped suddenly just outside the door.

            "What the hell, Sammy?"

            "Just, don't freak out okay?" Sam bit his lip.

            "Wait, what? You can't say that shit and not expect me to freak out. What's going on?" Dean demanded.

            Sam nodded towards the entrance, "I may have interfered a little bit. You can thank me later."

            He tried to ask Sam what was going on again, but Sam just looked amused and sat down in one of those ugly green hospital seats. Confused as hell, he tottered into the parking lot... and there was Cas. Looking like a fucking Greek God leaning against Sammy's girly hybrid. ("It's good for the environment, Dean"). Without the ugly shapeless hospital gown, it was pretty obvious that Cas was pretty built. He's wearing jeans that show off his ass and will probably add to his masturbating materials for the rest of sad, sad, lonely life. It would be so fucking amazing, peeling those jeans off, and getting his hands on--

            "Cas?" he asked in disbelief, shaking himself out of his fantasy. "What are you doing here?"

            "Your brother contacted me."

             "Of course he did,” Dean said with an eyeroll.

            “Not that I'm complaining," he added hastily.

            There was an awkward silence.

            "So um... What did Sammy say?" he asked.

            Cas frowned, "He said you wanted to see me and that you had something to say?"

            "That meddling asshole," Dean muttered under his breath.

            "Did you not want me here?" Cas asked, looking uncomfortable.

            "No, no. Jesus, Cas. There's probably no one else I wanted to see more. I'm just really crap at this." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I just... dyou wanna... I dunno, go to dinner, or a movie? Maybe come over? I bought the new season of Game of Thrones on bluray when I was in the hospital, cuz, y'know, there's nothing to do there and Sammy left his laptop one day, and I think they've probably delivered it by now. Or if not--

            "Dean." Cas cuts him off. "I'd love to. Any one of those suggestions sounds perfect. It's a date."

            He feels like a damn cartoon, grinning so wide his face would split in two. "Really?"

            "Did you think that I would say no?"

            "I don't know, maybe." Dean shrugged. "You're all sunshine and rainbows. You fucking rescue cats and shit. You're too good for me."

            "Dean that is bullcrap." Cas says angrily. "You're funny, good-lucking, smart...I could go on for hours about you. Why in the world would you think that you're not good enough for me?"

            Before he can respond, Sam cuts them both off. "Guys, as sweet as this is, we're in the drop-off zone in front of a hospital. Can we take this somewhere else? Preferably while I'm not here."

            Dean laughs, holding his hand out to Cas and keeps him by his side while Sam supports him on the way to his car. They had all the time in the world to argue it out, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> So since I'm a complete noob at computers, I can't figure out how to link things in AO3. Here's the link of the post that inspired all of this: http://apathetic-asian.tumblr.com/post/84128765718/celestial-sexhair-hieroglyphical-this  
> Feel free to stop by my tumblr and say hi too. (Please leave feedback. It would mean the world.)


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